Girl Talk
by KittieS
Summary: Starfire has questions that Raven doesn't want to answer. Raven's POV, RobStarfire, subtle hints of BBR.


"Stop bothering me."

I kept my eyes closed, as Starfire stopped abruptly behind me. I cracked one eye open to study her reaction to my harsh demand in the reflection of the window. She sheepishly looked down, crestfallen, and clasped her hands in front of her.

My words may have been callous, but I had every right to be irritated with her. She'd been following me around all morning, asking about everything from what certain body gestures meant, and why she was as of late being referred to as a baby chicken, or a baby.

I have never been jealous of Starfire's beauty. I'm not narcissistic. My looks have never been an issue, therefore I didn't find it essential to compare myself with my friend. As far as I have noticed, she's only cared about what she looked like when she was scared that she looked incongruous. She doesn't think that she looks different, looking normal.

So, it didn't bother me to be reminded that boys were still coming on to Starfire. But at her constant questions, it had began to stir up a little bit of curiosity in me. I usually don't care about the social lives of my friends, and I don't like it when I do. I thought that if I were to ignore the persistent Tamaraneon, then she would ask her questions to one of the other Titans.

Which she didn't. Which led me to believe that it was what was considered a 'girl problem'. Which stirred my curiosity even more.

Giving in, I slowly turned around and opened my other eye. It had better be good, if it disturbed my meditation.

"Fine." I said, apathetically watching as she joyfully clapped her hands and mimicked my position, hovering in the air with her legs crossed. "What do you want?"

Starfire's eyes brightened at my question, and she leaned forward eagerly. I made a point to Starfire when she first joined the Titans that I wasn't to become her confidante. I didn't mind 'hanging out' with her, for we both needed to remember that we were the only two girls in the household, but I didn't want to hear about boys, nail polish, and/or hair styles. Then, I had to explain why girls felt it necessary to goop paint on their fingers.

"What does it mean when humans turn colors? Such as pink as a glorpham, and red as a withorp?" She asked, fervently, obviously delighted for this one chance at 'girl talk'.

I stared steadily at her, hiding my confusion. I had learned long ago not to inquire about such things as 'glorpham' and 'withorp'. Deciding to work around it, without wondering about what her queries were leading to, I answered, "It's called blushing. When people are embarrassed, their face heat up and turn red."

Starfire cocked her head to the side, obviously acknowledging it as a human tradition, before nodding thoughtfully. I gazed blankly at her, waiting for her to process this 'new' information, and continue with the flood of questions I was accustomed to hearing.

I wasn't disappointed.

"What exactly is a kiss?"

Disappointed, I was not. Incredulous, I was. I started, blinking at her innocent expression. Now she was just being ridiculous.

"Starfire." I said, cocking an eyebrow as the only indication that I was surprised. Starfire usually didn't bother asking questions she just HAD to know the answer to. "You know perfectly well what a kiss is."

Her face heated up in a sheepish 'glorpham' color, and gave a hesitant nod. "I understand what it signifies, but how does one...accomplish this expression of fondness?"

The toaster on the kitchen counter gave a short glow before cracking down the middle.

Starfire gave an alarmed gasp and spun around, allowing me time to salvage myself from the genuine shock at her question. She flew quickly to the abolished toaster, circling it.

"Raven! The bread preparer is under attack?" She questioned, giving a halve of the destroyed machine a precautious poke.

"No, no, Starfire. The toaster's..." I flew from my meditation position to the counter and gathered the mutilated toaster into the garbage. "Dead."

Her eyes grew enormous and her lip gave a small shudder. "Dead? Should we bestow upon the deceased food-maker a song of mourning?"

I shook my head, quickly. I had learned ages ago to avoid any Tamaraneon songs. Especially those of tragedy. "Starfire, about this kissing business..."

Her grief over the inanimate object vanished quickly, and she gave an eager nod. "Yes, I wish to learn how to bestow a kiss. I feel I must show my affection to-"

She immediately clamped her hands over her mouth as the door leading from the rooms opened, and the famous Boy Wonder stepped sleepily down, mussing his hair.

I nodded in understanding. "Robin."

He stopped, mid-yawn, obviously surprised to find Starfire and I in a civil conversation. He snapped his mouth shut and gave the two of us a hesitant smile. "Good morning, Raven. Star." He said, glancing at the clock next to the stove.

"You have had a good night's sleep, Robin?" Starfire chirped, momentarily forgetting that I had yet to explain the procedure of kissing, and floating over to him as he gave the back of his neck a rub and opened the refrigerator.

"And morning. I didn't mean to sleep in so long. Nothing happened this morning, did it?"

I decided to take advantage of Starfire's adverted attention to heat up a pot of water. I was going to need all the herbal tea I could drink, to explain the best way to lock lips with the tired boy who was currently making a messy bowl of cereal.

"Nothing." I answered, pretending to be busy inspecting the apple I picked from the basket on the counter as I turned from the pot. "If something happened, you would have been the one getting US ready."

My comment made him turn a little pink. Acknowledging his obsession with the city always DID seem to make him uncomfortable. I just think he wanted desperately, no matter how much he loved the city, to be a regular teenager once in awhile.

He gave a small cough, and leaned against the counter, taking a quick bite from his cereal. He made a face and forced himself to swallow the contents in his mouth. "When did we buy this?" He asked, stirring the stale cereal with his spoon and eyeing it as if it was prone to leap up at him.

I gave an indifferent shrug, waiting for the water to boil, but Starfire immediately shot towards the calendar, and flipped back a page. I think she must have been missing her mustard. After months of trying to convince her that mustard wasn't a refreshment, the Titans finally gave in and began buying extra bottles of mustard just for her. I have to hand it to her. She knows how to get her way better than the rest of us.

"We have not been to the store of groceries since..." Starfire paused to jab her finger on the small squares, mouthing the numbers. I cocked an eyebrow in slight surprise. When did she learn to count? I shot a glance at Robin, who had the decency to look modest. "Twenty-one days into the page before the present."

Robin and I winced simultaneously. We were definitely negligent when it came to the food storage. Starfire, however, stared blankly at the calendar page. I could almost see an idea slide across her features. I should have ran like a bat out of hell while I could.

But, alas, that wretched curiosity got the best of me. Again.

She latched onto my arm, tugging. Hard. I don't believe Starfire ever knows just how strong she is, compared to the rest of the Titans.

"Raven! We must hurry to this store of groceries!" She said, dragging me from the kitchen and to the front door.

"Starfire! Wait!" I yelped, grimacing at the sore pain growing in my shoulder. I was sure that if she kept pulling me like she was, my arm would be completely dislocated from my shoulder. And I'm the medic in the tower. I would know.

Robin, fortunately, realized that Starfire's over-anxiety was leading to a potential injury, and quickly dropped his unsatisfactory cereal on the counter, sloshing milk on the surface. He put a hand on the alien girl's wrist, and she blinked at him, stopping abruptly.

I twisted my arm from her grip, taking advantage of her distraction. I turned, pretending to be interested in readjusting my sleeve, as Robin's hand delayed leaving her arm. It was a bit obvious that Starfire's ardor with him was returned, of course, but the last thing I'm sure either of them wanted was for me to acknowledge it.

Purposely making my cloak rustle loudly as I pulled the hood up, I attempted to bring the two of them back to the present. It worked, and Robin dropped his hand as if a gunshot rang out. Starfire slowly sank from her floating position to her feet, and shot me an anxious look as Robin's face turned to a 'withorp' color.

I rolled my eyes to illustrate to her that it _really_ wasn't anything to be distressed about, before stretching my arm out, wiggling my fingers to check for any minor injuries. Satisfied that my arm was still in joint with my shoulder, I scowled at Starfire.

"Starfire, neither of us can drive the car. Let the boys get the groceries."

"But..." Her bright face fell, and she grabbed her elbow. "But...I need to talk to you..." She said, slowly, as if hoping Robin wouldn't notice.

He didn't catch the apprehension. Shrugging, he walked back to the counter to grab the bowl of cereal. "There's no problem, Star. You and Raven can talk here, while I get Beast Boy and Cyborg out of your hair for awhile."

_Especially Beast Boy._ I pondered, returning to my whistling teapot and turning the stove off. I grabbed two cups, instead of one, rather sure that I was going to need to calm Starfire's nerves down before I did anything.

Starfire looked a bit sheepish at her earlier zeal, and sank down onto the back of the couch, still facing the kitchen, expectantly. I suddenly realized that she was eager for me to continue with my explanation, and I quickly busied myself with finishing the tea, before I destroyed something else.

Robin finally decided after a few more cautious bites of his gristly cereal that it wasn't worth digesting, and left the bowl on the counter, much to my displeasure. He started for the door, running his fingers through his hair, attempting to force it back to it's usual spikes.

"I'm going to go fetch Cyborg and Beast Boy." He said, turning at the doors as they slid open. "I can probably keep them in the store for about an hour and a half."

"Good-bye, Robin!" Starfire said enthusiastically, flying over to me as he left. She gazed curiously, as I finished preparing the herbal tea, and started when I asked if she wanted any honey.

She shook her head, noticing that I took mine plain. She must have watched me prepare herbal tea every morning for months, so her probing performance wasn't entirely necessary.

"Raven, about this kissi-"

I put a hand up to cut her off and listened into the silence, until I heard the familiar sound of a car starting and fading in the distance. I quickly took a sip of my tea before motioning for her to continue.

"This kissing ritual." Starfire finished her sentence, as if she had been holding it in from the time I stopped her. "How does one accomplish it?"

"Who told you about kissing?"

Starfire floated to sit cross-legged on the counter and accepted the small cup of tea I offered her. She took a small, tentative, sip before answering. "Beast Boy. The night of Robin's...prom, I asked him what it was that monster, Feline, tried to bestow upon him. I comprehended that it had to be some gesture of affection, if Robin was to hate it so. Beast Boy called it a kiss."

At her haughty look, I didn't dare correct her term for Kitten. Starfire's eyes had already started to glow at the recollection of that night, and I still wasn't sure if she'd completely mastered the star bolts from her eyes, yet. I took another sip of the scalding hot tea in my hands.

"Starfire, kissing isn't something you just give people, you know." I said, stalling. It was taking all of my carefully mastered self-control not to stutter. I've never stuttered around the Titans before, I didn't intend to start now.

"I know that." She said, lowering her cup and staring at me, critically. I was just so used to her being so unaware of things, I really can't be blamed for making such an obvious statement. "But, _how_ does one-"

I sighed, making her cut her impatient question off. "You just press your lips to his. There. End of story." I blurted, quickly. My earlier hesitance was gone, and was replaced with an eagerness to get this over with. To motion that the conversation had to end, I quickly finished the cup of tea, burning the back of my tongue.

"But Raven..."

I ignored her, crossing quickly to the opposite counter and grabbing Robin's bowl, to dump it's contents into the trash. Starfire lightly floated from the counter top she was sitting on and puzzled, followed me.

"Raven, what about the participants' noses?"

That did it.

My discomfort on the subject finally found its way to tap into my powers. A swirling vortex suddenly appeared beneath me and I did what any teenager in my predicament would want to do. I sank into the floor.

I heard Starfire say my name again as I vanished from her sight and landed in the basement. Right into the box of Cyborg's broken equipment. I hissed in pain as something metal and sharp jabbed into my ankle, as I struggled out.

After healing the minor cut, I looked around my surroundings, and peacefully crossed my legs to hover in the air next to the box. It was so dark. So quiet. So perfect.

"Azarath..."

"Raven? Are you injured?"

_No!_

My horror at Starfire's persistent interest forced the basement door to give and abrupt click. I heard her try the door and a faint, green glow appeared under the door as she prepared to blast the door down to check my state of health.

"I'm fine, Starfire. Please leave me alone."

The green glow vanished, and I heard her shuffle, undecidedly outside of the door. "We will confer this later?"

"Yes. Later." _Just leave me alone_.

I heard a soft 'swoosh' sound as she glided away and I gave a deep, releasing, sigh.

I don't know why the subject disturbed me so much. Even Terra's scorning me right before she nearly destroyed me required more effort. Maybe I didn't like being reminded that Starfire had someone she could safely 'bestow' a kiss to without the fear of being rejected, whereas I did not.

I hadn't even had _my_ first kiss yet, so I didn't have much of a right to explain the 'ritual' to her.

The rest of the Titans weren't as ignorant as Robin and Starfire seemed to be. Cyborg and I were the first to notice the strange attraction between the two, and Beast Boy still seemed to be oblivious. Somehow, I wasn't surprised.

I could tell that Cyborg wasn't completely comfortable with the 'situation', as he referred to it in his thoughts. Yes, I sensed his thoughts.

Bad Raven. I know.

Anyways. We were both worrying. If Robin and Starfire decided to become a couple, then they may have detached themselves from us. They could claim otherwise until they choked on their own words, but it was still the truth. They thought more of each other than the rest of us.

I was worried, especially. If they did forsaken us, then at least Beast Boy and Cyborg would have each other's friendship. Starfire's account on my unstable future had hit a cord in me. It was true.

If I didn't wake up to Beast Boy and Cyborg grumbling over breakfast, or Starfire getting all the Earth terms wrong, or even Robin's strange obsessions, I'd go insane. Literally.

The kind of mental insanity where you can't save yourself from it. As much as I hate to admit it, I need my friends. I need to know that even I can let my guard down enough to trust people. Sometimes.

My thoughts on my potential lunacy were interrupted by a delighted giggle.

"They have returned!" I started as Starfire's thrilled tone echoed through the empty corridors. Only she wouldn't have minded that I forgot to continue our conversation. Time passes when you're worrying about insanity.

I reluctantly floated upwards, through the roof of the basement, to easily land my feet on the kitchen tile. Starfire shot from one window to the other, trying to inspect the bags in their arms from the tower's height.

I brought my hood down and strode over to the windows. "Starfire, I didn't mean to forget our discussion."

"Joyous!"

"...What?"

"They have brought the mustard! And the delightful 'union' bulbs!" She clapped, and rocketed from the living room to help the three boys with their load.

I shook my head in wonder. She didn't even realize what I had been trying to apologize for. She didn't even realize that I was trying to apologize at all. No wonder Robin was attracted. She was so easily distracted from minor faults.

I flicked my hand, lazily, at the door, to slide it open, just as Beast Boy started to use his knee to balance his bag and press the button. He blinked, surprised at my help, and I took his distraction to levitate his baggage from his arms and onto the counter.

As I started to pull out assorted groceries, he moved over to my side, curiously watching my progress.

"Eh...Thanks?" He said, skeptical at my unexpected, silent offer of assistance. I couldn't really blame him for being suspicious. I tried to avoid him and his lame jokes all together, which usually required leaving him to struggle with his own burdens.

I didn't answer, and I turned as the rest of the Titans stumbled into the kitchen. Starfire started to happily describe the Tamaraneon meal she was going to prepare for us, and Beast Boy continued to dubiously watch me levitate the peanut butter into a top cabinet.

Finally irritated that he didn't just accept my help, I threw a quick glance at a tomato that Cyborg had unloaded. It flung itself at the shift-shaper, and he finally reacted.

"The peanut butter doesn't go there." He said, sheepishly.

"Then put it where it _does_ belong." I sighed, crouching in front of the refrigerator to store a gallon of milk.

And the day progressed as normal. Except for another emotion, just as annoying as curiosity.

"I'm sorry, Starfire."

Starfire, stopped brushing her teeth to look at me in the mirror. It had taken me all day to finally get her alone. She didn't seem to be trying all day to contact me on the 'kissing ritual'. But, regret still ate at my stomach, and I leaned over to spit in the sink.

"What for, Raven?" Starfire question, mumbling around her toothbrush.

"I never really told you what you wanted to know about kissing."

I arched an eyebrow as she blushed, and leaned forward to spit in the sink after me. I quickly turned the faucet on after her, a bit revolted.

"You have told me what I needed to know." She said, grabbing the closest towel and dabbing her lips.

"But, you had questions-"

"They have been resolved." Starfire quickly looked down, and hovered for the door. "Goodnight, Raven."

"Starfire?"

She stopped and turned around, clasping her hands in front of her, still looking down at the tile.

"So, how was it?"

Starfire looked up quickly, beaming. She shot forward and clasped my hands, happily. "Oh, it was delightful, Raven! I thank you so much!"

I smiled, and pulled my hands back as she shot around the bathroom. "I did not think that human traditions could be so enjoyable! Is there any other practices such as these?"

"No." I said, instantly. "I'm glad you...uh...enjoyed it, Starfire. But you probably shouldn't talk about it in front of Beast Boy and Cyborg."

She nodded, eagerly, as I started to glide out of the bathroom. "Raven, you have attempting this kissing ritual, as well?"

I stopped, and fought back a wince. "No." I said, deadpan.

A confused, or maybe understanding, pause followed before Starfire chirped up again. "Oh, you should! It is the most joyous practice!"

"So I've heard."

"With Beast Boy, perhaps?"

I spun around, as Starfire gave a sly smile. "Goodnight, Raven." She said, amusedly, as she floated past me and out of the bathroom.


End file.
